Kaleidoscope of Time
by Ratin8tor
Summary: The challenge: Take 3 numbers (1-36 the Doctor/companion from that season, 1-239 to indicate the TV story to draw inspiration from, 0-9999 indicate year/number of letters or words used in story) and draw a connection between the three of them. Suggestions welcomed
1. 1971 Disney World

"What is it Doctor?" cried Peri, hiding behind the blonde curly-haired Time Lord.

"It's a quantum-locked being," snapped the Doctor, hurriedly tapping away at his multi-coloured coat. He had one idea: a long shot, but it might just work.

"A what?" asked Peri, turning to look at the Doctor.

"Don't look away!" said the Doctor sharply. "A quantum-locked being is a being that, upon observation, turns to stone to stay protected. However unobserved it can transcend great distances at amazing speed."

"So it's fast then?" asked Peri.

"That is an understatement," said the Doctor drily, reaching into his pocket.

"But why is it the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse?" Their recent trip to Disney World's Magic Kingdom had proven to be quite distressing. They had been strolling through the empty park, the Doctor maintaining the excuse that they were a private tour party taking in the sights early. They were marvelling at the Partner's statue when Peri suddenly realised the arm had changed slightly. A brief argument with the Doctor was quickly abated when the statue had suddenly changed position, the figures reaching out to the two of them.

"Who knows? Perhaps Walt Disney had made contact with them in his lifetime. Perhaps they have some grand master plan. Perhaps it's just coincidence. The important thing is that it's trying to get at us."

"That's not it Doctor, look!" Peri pointed to the smaller statues now encompassing them, ready to attack. She knew that if she were to look away, even for a moment, it'd be the end. But time was running out.

"Hurry," she begged, her eyes shutting themselves of their own accord.

"Got it!" cried the Doctor triumphantly, pulling a strange alien object out of his pocket. He quickly pointed it at the Partners statue.

"When I say now, shut your eyes," advised the Doctor, doing rapid calculations in his head. "NOW!" There was a bright flash. When Peri opened her eyes everything was back to normal.

"Doctor, what happened?" she asked.

"I used their greatest strength against them. By reversing their relative chronology I manage to not only reset them to normal, but lock them in it as well. I knew this would come in handy some day."

"That's great to hear Doc," said Peri, relived. "But I've had enough excitement for one day. Can we go on something more relaxing."

"Of course," grinned the Doctor. "Space Mountain it is!"

**Author Note: **The prompts were 22 (aka the 22nd season starring the Sixth Doctor and Peri), 186 (_Blink_, aka the Weeping Angels) and 1971 (the year and the number of characters aka letters in this story).


	2. 1996 Centennial Olympic Stadium

"Are you okay Doctor?" asked Nyssa as the two of them sat in the Centennial Olympic Stadium. The Doctor had decided to educate Nyssa on the highlights of his favourite planet, leading to the two of them arriving at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic games.

"Mmm? Oh I'm fine, fine."

"You sure? We could always go back for Tegan..." Nyssa was referring to one of the Doctor's previous companions who he'd hurriedly left behind in his departure from Heathrow.

"No, no I got her home. She's happier there. Anyway this is my favourite part." He pointed eagerly to the stage. Upon there were two figures: a young woman and an older man.

"What is wrong with him?" asked Nyssa, noting the figure's shaking hands.

"He's got Parkinsonism," replied the Doctor, "a neurological disease. That man there is Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time. He even taught me a thing or two in my younger days."

"I see," said Nyssa. "He is indeed honoured by the people around us." Honoured was an understatement, the crowd was cheering their hero.

"He is a legend," agreed the Doctor.

"So why did we come here?" asked Nyssa as the torch was being lit. "And do not say it is to educate me," she cut in, before he had a chance to say anything. "Why did you want to be here tonight?"

"Well," admitted the Doctor, "to remind myself that it wasn't the end of the world. To remind myself that even legends can go on and do great things even when all hope seems lost." Nyssa nodded in understanding. The loss of Adric was still weighing heavily on both of their minds.

"Are you going to abandon me as well?" she asked the Doctor, somewhat fearful. She knew the Doctor wasn't going back to Tegan because he was afraid of losing another companion.

"Why, do you want to leave?" he asked.

"No, I want to keep travelling. I am just... worried about you. That you might leave me behind to protect me. Like how you left Tegan." The Doctor said nothing, watching the ceremony quietly. Nyssa lay her hand on his.

"It is not the end of the world Doctor," she said, echoing his words. "There is always light in every dark place." The Doctor nodded, staring deeply into the torch. It was if it was filling him with life, with hope. A small broke across his face.

"Of course Nyssa," he replied. "We can't grieve forever, can we? There's a whole universe out there to explore."

"Shall we go explore it then?" asked Nyssa.

"Of course. Brave heart Nyssa. Off we go!"

**Author Note:** The prompts were 19 (Fifth Doctor with Nyssa, set after Time-Flight), 158 (_The End of the World_, hence the name drop in the story) and 1996 (The 1996 Olympics & amount of characters used to write the story).


	3. 1456 Italy

_Italy, 1456_

Bartolomeo Platina was putting the finishing touches on his latest work. It had been a lot of hard work, but it was finally worth it. A few amazing things had occurred to him recently.

First there had been the appearance of a great ball of light in the sky, a sign from God himself that only he was wise enough to interpret. Clearly God was angry with them.

The second was a mysterious appearance of three strangers and the conversation he had overheard. The first had said he was 'The Doctor', but his young companion had referred to him as 'Doctor Who'. He was a strange little man, dressed quite scruffy. His two companions were Ben Jackson and Polly Wright respectively.

He had briefly mentioned that he'd been to the comet in his ship, called the TARDIS. This had apparently stood for 'Time and Relative Dimension in Space'. Bartolomeo had chosen to regard him as a madman until the strange blue box seemed to suddenly vanish before his eyes. He realized his foolishness quickly, noting that God himself must have sent these angels to impart some sort of important message. He cursed himself for missing the connection between the angels, the blue box and the comet.

Dutifully he wrote it down in the _Vitæ Pontificum_, hoping that some future reader may discern the meaning of the encounter.

_London, 1966_

"It's amazing," said Professor Brett. "So far WATON is exceeding all expectations. After feeding him only the basics of Halley's Comet from old Italian texts it has successfully cross-feed that with information it already has and understood the concept of the comet."

"That's wonderful," said his sectary, giving him his tea.

"Yes WATON certainly is a thinking machine, truly independent. I wonder what connections it'll make next."

**Author Note:** The prompts were 4 (season 4, in this case using the 2nd Doctor, Ben and Polly as the Doctor regenerated halfway through it), 27 (_The War Machines_, starring the evil computer Wanton) and 1456 (the setting and the number of characters used in the story).


	4. 2220 TARDIS

"EXTERMINATE!" cried the sinister crackling voice of a Dalek as the TARDIS materialised around it, part of the new empire. He had stopped them, but at a cost.

"To die in war is the most glorious death!" intoned the Sontaran commander as he ordered his platoon to fire upon the UNIT soldiers. The Doctor had stopped them, but at a cost.

"You will become like us," mono-toned the cyber-leader as he had staggered around the TARDIS. The Doctor had stopped them, but at a cost.

"Life is wasted on the living!" snarled the Master, attempting to kill the Doctor in his own TARDIS. The Doctor had stopped him, but at a cost.

During his travels he had met the stuff of nightmares. But four had had the most impact on him.

One had managed to kill his companion and was responsible for the loss of his first life. Another had managed to successfully invade Gallifrey. The third had brought nothing but death in his wake. The last... the last committed the greatest sin.

They were, in short, his horsemen. The four beings that brought the apocalypse down onto any place they happened to chose. Conquest, war, famine, death.

All four beings had managed to invade the sanctuary of his very own TARDIS.

The Daleks were conquest in a tin pot, destroying all in their path for their megalomaniac racism. Killing and enslaving because anything different was wrong and needed to be exterminated.

The Sontarans, forever opposing the Rutans, were consumed with war above all else. They were breed for it, lived for it, died for it. A war that had gone for countless millennia and would go for countless more.

The Cybermen were a famine upon the creativity of intelligence. They would starve the genius of love, of life, of emotions until nothing more than cold logic remained. Until the freedom of life laid barren underneath their metallic boot.

The Master brought death to all those unfortunate enough to meet him. Why he killed the Doctor hoped to never know. He just knew that The Master killed remorselessly and without reason. Often it seemed like he did so purely out of his own sick, twisted amusement.

The Doctor often blamed himself for the deaths of others. If he hadn't arrived when he did, would any deaths have happened? Was it his fault for stranding the Master on Earth, for letting the Sontarans get into Gallifrey? For not destroying the Daleks when he had the chance, for letting the Cybermen roam unopposed?

Should he stop running, instead accept his fate at Lake Silencio? Would that stop the bloodshed?

For if they were his horsemen, then he was the one that broke the seals that freed them. Perhaps it was time to finally pay for his mistakes. Perhaps it was time for the final revelation.

**Author Notes:** the prompts were 32 (Eleventh Doctor with Amy & Rory, specifically before his 'death' at Lake Silencio), 174 (_The Impossible Planet/The Beast Below_, using the reference to Satan to bring in Revelation and the Four Horsemen) and 2220 (since Revelation ends with 22:20).


End file.
